Who Admits To Being A Tory?

[alchresearch]

I haven't said that coal isn't still part of our lives, just that it is destined to be outed in reasonably short order, if not for economical reasons heretofore, then for ecological reasons nowadays.

 

Especially as EU regulations on emissions become even stricter. This is why foreign coal was used as opposed to UK - it contains less sulphur.

 

And many power stations have already been converted from coal to gas.

 

But this argument is lost on the Lefties. They just see the real reason as spiteful Thatcher being nasty to the poor workers

[Darth Vader]

And what is wrong with that ?

 

Jealous

 

What is so wrong with being rich ?

 

What is right about having over 50 million sitting in a bank, - more than you could ever really need?

 

At least we're 'all in it together'.

[mj.scuba]

Well said, I should be a socialist through and through but this time I trusted my vote with Nick ( the messiah) Clegg but unfortunately he turned out to be Judas.

 

Quit whinging then, it's your own fault for voting for Clegg. Aren't you the judas for turning away from Labour, if that is who you really wanted? He even said ahead of the election it would be difficult to join a coalition with the runner up and would not prop up Labour if they came second, so what did you expect?

[Darth Vader]

There's no wonder ALL parties of our wonderful MPs couldn't rush in quick enough to bail the banks out. It's THEIR precious savings we've saved. And we're going to have pay heavily for the privilege.

[Guest]

I don't know who the good guys are at the moment, but it's blindingly obvious to me that the tories are the bad guys.

 

I couldn't agree more!

[Mr Prime]

Boris wants at least 50% of the union membership to vote, for a strike ballot to be valid. If the unions are confident their membership will back the leaderships' strike plans, this should not bother them.

 

As long as the same rules apply to MP's, some of whom get in on tiny majorities of turnouts as low as 9% in some places.

 

As for unions from my considerable experience many union members don't vote as they don't know all the details but are happy to trust the majority of those who do. If in the RMT strikes there had been a 99% vote on a 99% turnout would that have stopped objections?

[Boblet]

It is probably produced far cheaper than we ever did, hence why our coal industry had to reform, failed to reform, and all but nearly died out.

 

But that was always the flaw in the logic

 

if coal produced in the uk cost, just to pick a number, £10 a ton, but to import it from abroad cost £5 a ton, it would still make more economic sense to produce it here (even leaving aside the obvious benefit of having more control of your own power supply)

 

The cost of producing coal in the UK included paying wages to UK workers, some of which was then claimed back in tax and NI contributions, who then spent a large proportion of that money within the UK - again generating tax revenues from VAT, and on the profits of the businesses on which they spent their wages

 

Closing the pits not only lost the money that the miners spent and the tax revenues from that, it also cost the country financially in terms of redundancy payments made to the miners, benefits payments made to the ex-miners, lost tax revenue from all the associated businesses, and redundancy and benefits payments made to all those who lost their jobs indirectly as a result of the closure of the pits

 

We also lost the money we then had to spend abroad importing "cheap" coal - almost none of which was then spent in the UK

 

It should never have been a case of just buying whichever is cheaper to produce - the UK economy isn't a larger version of a grocer's shop or a household budget - there was a far bigger picture which the Thatcher government didn't care about

 

The pit closures destroyed dozens of communities, the consequences of which we are still suffering from

 

It may have been a long time ago - and no doubt some of you weren't even born at the time, and judging by some posts have no idea of the reality of it - but the consequences of her actions then are still with us now

 

Blaming the last Labour government is easy, and for a lot of things they deserve a good kicking, but it is not as simple as saying they are responsible for everything that has gone wrong in the last 13 years - the seeds for our current plight were sown long before Blair and Brown were even elected to Parliament

 

Sorry that turned into War and Peace - but I feel better now!

[convert]

But that was always the flaw in the logic

 

if coal produced in the uk cost, just to pick a number, £10 a ton, but to import it from abroad cost £5 a ton, it would still make more economic sense to produce it here (even leaving aside the obvious benefit of having more control of your own power supply)

 

The cost of producing coal in the UK included paying wages to UK workers, some of which was then claimed back in tax and NI contributions, who then spent a large proportion of that money within the UK - again generating tax revenues from VAT, and on the profits of the businesses on which they spent their wages

 

Closing the pits not only lost the money that the miners spent and the tax revenues from that, it also cost the country financially in terms of redundancy payments made to the miners, benefits payments made to the ex-miners, lost tax revenue from all the associated businesses, and redundancy and benefits payments made to all those who lost their jobs indirectly as a result of the closure of the pits

 

We also lost the money we then had to spend abroad importing "cheap" coal - almost none of which was then spent in the UK

 

It should never have been a case of just buying whichever is cheaper to produce - the UK economy isn't a larger version of a grocer's shop or a household budget - there was a far bigger picture which the Thatcher government didn't care about

 

The pit closures destroyed dozens of communities, the consequences of which we are still suffering from

 

It may have been a long time ago - and no doubt some of you weren't even born at the time, and judging by some posts have no idea of the reality of it - but the consequences of her actions then are still with us now

 

Blaming the last Labour government is easy, and for a lot of things they deserve a good kicking, but it is not as simple as saying they are responsible for everything that has gone wrong in the last 13 years - the seeds for our current plight were sown long before Blair and Brown were even elected to Parliament

 

Sorry that turned into War and Peace - but I feel better now!

 

Good post.

 

I have to agree that Thatcher did indeed set out to break the backs of the unions, but she was helped (unintentionally) by Arthur Scargill. Massive investment went into a lot of local pits, with unrealistic timescale expectations for a return on the investment. These pits were then deemd to be unprofitable.

 

I have no doubt, that this was the catalyst to our current underclass system. However Labour have done nothing in their 13 years in office to right this.

 

We need to forget the past and look to the future. Currently Labour seems to have lost it's way, yet the newly formed Government seems to be making some of the right noises, and even possibly the right moves.

 

We have far too many unproductive (except in the procreation arena) people in this country. This needs to be turned around. If that means stigmatising the workshy, lazy, feckless underclass by removing their ability to purchase luxuries then call me a Tory.

[Grandad.Malky]

Aren't you the judas for turning away from Labour,

 

Nice try

 

I am free to vote for who I want, someone who stands in font of the nation as the leader of a party selling their policies sort of loses creditability when they capitulate.

 

so what did you expect?

 

 

I would have expected him to have told the Conservatives to go it alone or form a interim coalition with a few to another election, the last thing I expected was is own lust for a stint in number 10 to override the will of his party.

[L00b]

I have no doubt, that this was the catalyst to our current underclass system. However Labour have done nothing in their 13 years in office to right this.

Somewhat incorrect.

 

In worst-affected areas (e.g. Wales, Sheffield), Labour ramped up the transformation of manufacturing-/mining-based local economies into services-based local economies, with an over-inflation of the local public sector. Incidentally, quite handy for preserving/fostering the 'traditional' local votes.

 

Exactly what France did since the mid-80s. Same symptoms, same cure, same relapse.

 

Very much an ostrich policy, which is going to backfire badly, shortly, everywhere. It's started in Greece and Ireland, in case noone noticed.